- Founded 1876
- Stadium Riverside Stadium
- Manager Kim Hellberg
- Competition Championship 2026-27
- Goals 22
- Goals Conceded 16
- Yellow Cards 12
- Total Red Cards
Middlesbrough Squawka Score ratings 2026/27
Middlesbrough are third and scoring freely. Kim Hellberg’s side have won four of eight and drawn three, putting four past Norwich in a 4-3 thriller and three past West Brom, though 12 conceded is the loosest record in the top five. After losing last season’s play-off final to Hull City, the target could hardly be clearer. Below, we take a look at Boro’s most-used XI so far and how each player has performed, based on the Squawka Score rating system.
The Squawka Score is a metric developed to assess a player’s performance relative to other players in the same position. It is shown as a percentage, and it is worth knowing that 66% is average rather than 50% – a 70% is a good afternoon and 85% or above marks out one of the best players on the pitch. Each score is calculated from a range of per-90-minute statistics, taking in the obvious numbers such as goals and assists alongside some more obscure ones that are far more position-specific. A player’s season figure is simply the average of his match ratings.
One note on the Championship: the division does not carry expected-goals data, so these ratings are built on volume and quality of actions – shots, big chances, duels, clearances, passes into the box – rather than xG and xA.
GK: Radek Vítek – 63% – Twenty saves and every minute played, but only one clean sheet in eight and 12 conceded. Vítek has not been at fault for many of them – the goals have tended to arrive in bursts, three of them in one afternoon against Norwich – yet a goalkeeper behind a top-three side would expect a better return than this.
RB: Callum Brittain – 66% – The most industrious player at the club. Forty-four duels won leads the squad, along with 24 possessions regained in his own third, 100 passes into the final third and 33 into the penalty area, plus 12 completed take-ons. The cost is 41 duels lost and 10 occasions beaten one-on-one, both club highs.
RCB: Luke Ayling – 69% – Four clear-cut chances created is a remarkable figure for a centre-back and the most at the club, and 62 progressive passes says how much Boro build through him. Two assists on top. At 35 he has been used carefully, six starts in eight, and the defence has looked better organised with him in it.
LCB: Adilson Malanda – 70% – The pick of the back four. Thirty-six clearances, 18 aerial duels won and 10 interceptions all lead the club, and he has added a goal and 56 progressive passes. Two errors leading to shots is the one figure that needs trimming, and it is the difference between a 70% and something closer to 80%.
LB: Vivaldo – 70% – Six starts at left-back and a quietly effective return: 42 progressive passes and five blocked shots, with nothing charged against him. He offers less going forward than Brittain does on the other side, which is a deliberate balance rather than a shortcoming.
RCM: Aidan Morris – 70% – An extraordinary volume of work. Morris has played 154 passes into the final third, more than any other player in the Championship, alongside 12 tackles won, 25 possessions regained in the middle third, 42 duels won and five blocked shots. A goal from 13 shots too. One error leading to a goal is the only blot.
LCM: Sebastian Berhalter – 76% – Sixteen chances created, four of them clear-cut, and 69 passes into the penalty area – both club-leading figures – from a midfielder who also takes 28 of the corners. Two goals and an assist on top. Berhalter has been the most consistently influential player in the side.
AM: Riley McGree – 63% – Twelve shots and 23 touches in the opposition box from the No.10 role, with an assist and 15 possessions regained in the middle third. Two big chances missed is the frustration: McGree gets into the right areas often enough, but the end product has not matched the position he occupies.
RW: Amario Cozier-Duberry – 84% – The highest Squawka Score at the club and one of the best in the division, though from only three starts. Two goals, an assist, nine chances created and 25 touches in the opposition box in 232 minutes is a rate nobody else at Boro is close to. Getting him fit and starting is the single biggest thing Hellberg can do.
LW: Tommy Conway – 73% – Two assists in three appearances and 203 minutes, so the numbers are thin but the rate is good. Two big chances missed is the caveat. Like Cozier-Duberry, the issue has been availability rather than form.
ST: Will Lankshear – 71% – Six goals from a club-high 26 shots with 11 on target, and 42 touches in the opposition box, the most in the side. Five big chances missed and 14 fouls conceded are the rough edges, and two yellow cards with them, but a 21-year-old leading the line and scoring at this rate is exactly what Boro needed.
Worth a mention: Maximilian Arfsten and Morgan Whittaker have both rated at 75% in limited minutes, and Jeremy Sarmiento at 74%.
Middlesbrough’s set-piece specialists
- Penalties: Tommy Conway
- Free-kicks: Morgan Whittaker, Leo Castledine
- Corners: Sebastian Berhalter, Morgan Whittaker
Sebastian Berhalter has taken 28 of Middlesbrough’s corners to Morgan Whittaker’s 6. Morgan Whittaker has had one of the direct free-kicks. Middlesbrough are yet to be awarded a penalty, so Tommy Conway’s status as the taker is inherited rather than proven.
Middlesbrough FAQs
How have Middlesbrough started the 2026/27 season?
Well. Boro are third on 15 points from eight games, with four wins and three draws, and have scored 16 goals. Twelve conceded is the concern in an otherwise strong start.
Who is Middlesbrough’s best player this season?
Amario Cozier-Duberry rates highest on 84%, though from only three starts. Across a full run of games it is Sebastian Berhalter on 76%, with 16 chances created and 28 corners taken.
Where did Middlesbrough finish in the 2025/26 Championship season?
Middlesbrough finished fifth in the Championship in the 2025/26 campaign, missing out on promotion through a 1-0 defeat against Hull City in the play-off final.
Who is the Middlesbrough manager?
Kim Hellberg is the current Middlesbrough manager, taking the job in November 2025. He is only the club’s second overseas-born manager.
Who is the current Middlesbrough captain?
Middlesbrough do not currently have a permanent captain for the 2026/27 season, with the armband shared between senior figures in the squad.